Reassuring one's friends: Richard Nixon's China policy and its impact on East and Southeast Asia, 1969-1974

This thesis is a study of how the Richard Nixon administration explained its China policy to its allies and friends in Asia and their reactions towards the major changes in the US-PRC relationship during the early 1970s. These allies and friends are the Republic of China (ROC), the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. When Nixon came to power in 1969, he was desperate to disengage from the Vietnam War and to reduce the United States (US) formal military presence in Asia. He employed the policies of Vietnamization and the Nixon Doctrine to achieve these objectives, which when combined with the US-PRC rapprochement would serve to reduce tensions in Asia. The Asian states were apprehensive of the future of the US commitment to the region due to the reduction of its military presence in Asia and their worries were compounded when Nixon sought rapprochement with the PRe. Explanations were sought from the US and reassurances were given by the Nixon administration in order to pacify its allies and friends in Asia. The development of the relationships of the Asian states with the PRC, and also with the US, revealed the extent to which Nixon was able to convince these Asian states that his China policy would not be detrimental to their security. The rapprochement did much to alter the relationships the Asian states shared with both the US and the PRC. Nixon's China policy acted as a catalyst for some of the Asia states to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC. These Asian states were either uncertain of the American commitment to Asia or recognised the convergence of interest between the rapprochement and their national interests. They then moved swiftly towards establishing diplomatic ties with the PRe

Evaluation of Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium training recommendations on modified Rodnan skin score assessment in scleroderma

AimThe modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) is a validated outcome measure for skin thickness in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Training has been shown to reduce variability in the measurement of mRSS. Our objective was to assess the interâ and intraâ observer variability of mRSS scoring using the proposed recommendations for training by the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC) and World Scleroderma Foundation (WSF).MethodFiftyâ two trainees and eight adult SSc patients participated in the SSc skin scoring workshop that was conducted in two sessions by four teachers. Each session, attended by 26 trainees, had a teaching and evaluation phase. The teaching phase comprised of: (a) lecture on mRSS scoring; (b) video demonstration of mRSS scoring; and (c) live demonstration of mRSS on one SSc patient. In the evaluation phase, each trainee independently assessed the mRSS in four SSc patients. For intraâ observer reliability, 14 trainees reâ assessed the mRSS of two SSc patients whom they had previously examined. We computed the interâ and intraâ observer variability using a linear mixed model.ResultsFor the evaluation phase, 34 (65.4%) trainees were within five units of the established teachers’ score in 3 out of 4 patients. Overall, the whole group had acceptable interâ observer variability (intraâ class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.71, mean = 8.64 and withinâ patient standard deviation [SD] = 4.25). The intraâ observer ICC was 0.85 and withinâ patient SD was 2.73.ConclusionThere was good interâ observer and excellent intraâ observer reliability. This is the first study examining the training of assessors using the SCTC/WSF recommendations and our results support the importance of standardized training for skin scoring.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149705/1/apl13523.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149705/2/apl13523_am.pd

Does an incremental approach to implementing programmatic assessment work? Reflections on the change process

In 2017, the School of Medicine (Fremantle) of the University of Notre Dame Australia began moving towards programmatic assessment. Programmatic assessment seeks to achieve robust assessment validity through the assessment of a large number of low-stakes activities or data points. These data points exemplify assessment as learning by valuing feedback, discussion and reflection, ultimately leading to deeper student engagement without compromising credible decision-making on student progress. The School adopted an incremental approach to implementing programmatic assessment that included first establishing data-informed mentoring, and then activating a continuous assessment program that contributed simultaneously to student learning and School decision-making. Action research helped understand the impact of the initiative. Re-engineering continuous assessment as an incremental step towards programmatic assessment proved to be problematic. Some ideas are proposed to draw the strands of programmatic assessment together that may be useful for others to chart a more fruitful path

Advances of Machine Learning in Materials Science: Ideas and Techniques

In this big data era, the use of large dataset in conjunction with machine learning (ML) has been increasingly popular in both industry and academia. In recent times, the field of materials science is also undergoing a big data revolution, with large database and repositories appearing everywhere. Traditionally, materials science is a trial-and-error field, in both the computational and experimental departments. With the advent of machine learning-based techniques, there has been a paradigm shift: materials can now be screened quickly using ML models and even generated based on materials with similar properties; ML has also quietly infiltrated many sub-disciplinary under materials science. However, ML remains relatively new to the field and is expanding its wing quickly. There are a plethora of readily-available big data architectures and abundance of ML models and software; The call to integrate all these elements in a comprehensive research procedure is becoming an important direction of material science research. In this review, we attempt to provide an introduction and reference of ML to materials scientists, covering as much as possible the commonly used methods and applications, and discussing the future possibilities.Comment: 80 pages; 22 figures. To be published in Frontiers of Physics, 18, xxxxx, (2023

S-D logic research directions and opportunities: the perspective of systems, camplexity and engeneering

To date, several disciplines have broached the systems view of service and the engineering of service systems. Operations research applied to services began with a rather simplistic, macro view of resource integration in the form of data envelopment analysis (DEA), introduced by Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes in 1978 (Banker et al., 1984; Charnes et al., 1994). Micro models of service systems have tended to study the systems’ IT components (Hsu, 2009; Qiu 2009). Engineering, which has always been associated with ‘assembling pieces that work in specific ways’ (Ottino, 2004) and ‘a process of precise composition to achieve a predictable purpose and function’ (Fromm, 2010: 2), has contributed to greater scalability and purposeful control in service systems. However, the agents of the system are usually people whose activities may not easily be controlled by predictable processes and yet are critical aspects of the value-creating system (Ng et al., 2011b). There is need for a new combinative paradigm, such as third-generation activity theory, in which two or more activity systems come into contact, to explore dialogue, exchanging perspectives of multiple actors, resulting in networks or groups of activity systems that are constantly interacting (Marken, 2006; Nardi, 1996, Oliveros et al., 2010). While various systems approaches, such as general systems theory (von Bertalanffy, 1962); open systems theory (Boulding, 1956; Katz and Kahn, 1978); and viable systems approach (Barile, 2008; Beer, 1972; Golinelli, 2010), will not be reviewed here (see Ng et al., 2011a for a systems approach to service science), they share common tenets: boundaries, interfaces, hierarchy, feedback and adaptation to which most systems writers would add emergence, input, output and transformation (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1972). These terms may be used as a basis for a research agenda for the consideration of a service system

Accuracy and Responsiveness of the stepwatch activity monitor and ActivPAL in patients with CODP when walking with and without a rollator

Purpose: To evaluate the measurement properties of the StepWatch™ Activity Monitor (SAM) and ActivPAL in COPD. Method: Whilst wearing both monitors, participants performed walking tasks at two self-selected speeds, with and without a rollator. Steps obtained using the monitors were compared with that measured by direct observation. Results: Twenty participants aged 73 ± 9 years (FEV1 = 35 ± 13% pred; 8 males) completed the study. Average speeds for the slow and normal walking tasks were 34 ± 7 m•min−1and 46 ± 10 m•min−1, respectively. Agreement between steps recorded by the SAM with steps counted was similar irrespective of speed or rollator use (p = 0.63) with a mean difference and limit of agreement (LOA) of 2 steps•min−1 and 6 steps•min−1, respectively. Agreement for the ActivPAL was worse at slow speeds (mean difference 7 steps•min−1; LOA 10 steps•min−1) compared with normal speeds (mean difference 4 steps•min−1; LOA 5 steps•min−1) (p = 0.03), but was unaffected by rollator use. The change in step rate between slow and normal walking via direct observation was 12 ± 7 steps•min−1 which was similar to that detected by the SAM (12 ± 6 steps•min−1) and ActivPAL (14 ± 7 steps•min−1). Conclusions: The SAM can be used to detect steps in people who walk very slowly including those who use a rollator. Both devices were sensitive to small changes

High-resolution global climate simulations: representation of cities

Ensemble runs of high-resolution (~10 km; N1280) global climate simulations (2005–2010) with the Met Office HadGEM3 model are analysed over large urban areas in the south-east UK (London) and south-east China (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing region). With a focus on urban areas, we compare meteorological observations to study the response of modelled surface heat fluxes and screen-level temperatures to urbanisation. HadGEM3 has a simple urban slab scheme with prescribed, globally fixed bulk parameters. Misrepresenting the magnitude or the extent of urban land cover can result in land-surface model bias. As urban land-cover fractions are severely under-estimated in China, this impacts surface heat-flux partitioning and quintessential features such as the urban heat island. Combined with the neglect of anthropogenic heat emissions, this can result in misrepresentation of heat-wave intensities (or cold spells) in cities. The model performance in urban areas could be improved if bulk parameters are modelled instead of prescribed, but this necessitates the availability of local morphology data on a global level. Improving land-cover information and providing more flexible ways to account for differences between cities (e.g. anthropogenic emission; morphology) is essential for realistic future projections of city climates, especially if model output is intended for urban climate services

Data on the Lignosus rhinocerotis water soluble sclerotial extract affecting intracellular calcium level in rat dorsal root ganglion cells

The data in this article contain supporting evidence for the research manuscript entitled “Bronchodilator effects of Lignosus rhinocerotis extract on rat isolated airways is linked to the blockage of calcium entry” by Lee et al. (2018) [1]. The data were obtained by calcium imaging technique with fluorescent calcium indicator dyes, Fura 2-AM, to visualize calcium ion movement in the rat dorsal ganglion (DRG) cells. The effects of L. rhinocerotis cold water extract (CWE1) on intracellular calcium levels in the DRG cells were presented. Keywords: Lignosus rhinocerotis, Medicinal mushroom, Bronchodilators, Calcium dynamic

Design and rationale of a 16-week adjunctive randomized placebo-controlled trial of mitochondrial agents for the treatment of bipolar depression

Objective: Bipolar disorder places a significant burden on individuals, caregivers and family, and the broader community. Current treatments are believed to be more effective against manic symptoms, leaving a shortfall in recovery during the depressive phase of the illness. The current study draws on recent evidence suggesting that, in addition to increased oxidative load, alterations in mitochondrial function occur in bipolar disorder. Methods: This 16-week study aims to explore the potential benefits of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) alone or in combination (CT) with selected nutraceuticals believed to enhance mitochondrial function. The study includes adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder currently experiencing an episode of depression. Participants are asked to take NAC, CT, or placebo in addition to any usual treatments. A post-discontinuation visit is conducted 4 weeks following the treatment phase. Results: The primary outcome of the study will be mean change on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Secondary outcomes include functioning, substance use, mania ratings, and quality of life. Blood samples will be collected at baseline and week 16 to explore biochemical alterations following treatment. Conclusion: This study may provide a novel adjunctive treatment for bipolar depression. Analysis of biological samples may assist in understanding the therapeutic benefits and the underlying etiology of bipolar depression